She Lived Up to Her Name...Risa

Risa is gone. We had to put her to sleep on November 15. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. She told us on that Tuesday that it was time and we waited until Thursday so that her regular vet could be there. She was never in any discomfort, if she had been, we would have done it sooner. November 15 was 10 weeks to the day since her diagnosis. DH has more information on his blog.

Several people told us about the Rainbow Bridge. You can read it here. People told us about their beloved dogs who Risa will be playing with at Rainbow Bridge. I envision this as her new pack, at least until we can join her. Risa's new pack includes:
TK, Princess, Putt-Putt, and Kuma (my beautiful dogs when I was growing up)
Ting-Ling (DH's dog)
Schoep, Beschert, Trapper (Laurie)
Patch and Rusty (PastorDan)
Mooch, Wicket, Pepper, Simon, and Toby (SaraBeth)
Brillig (Brillig)
Dickens (Zoskie)
Erla, Ranger, and Scout (Sharon)

On my desk at work I have a picture of her and pictures of her in my screensaver slideshow. I can look at these pictures daily and smile when I think of her. However, at other times, I just lose it. I was organizing some papers one day and found a receipt from a vet visit earlier this year before this ordeal started... I burst into tears. The certificate from Bubbling Well (see aforementioned DH blog) came the other day. At first I thought I was okay and then I sat down and cried.

Risa sure lived up to her name, providing us with nearly 10 1/2 years of laughter and good times. After she went to sleep we sat and told stories about Risa and we still do, "Do you remember when Risa...?" And my line has been that we'll be vacuuming her fur from the carpet for years to come. <grin>

Bye baby dog, I'll miss you. Thank you for sharing your life and love with us.

"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made." -M. Acklam